Experiences from a Kannadiga's kitchen, twists on traditional eats, delectable accidents and more

Cultured Butter the home made way

Butter is yummy, after all it is 'utterly butterly delicious'. This very morning when I was preparing breakfast, Sunny boy stole up to the refrigerator and opened it, (yes now it is the newest headache) grabbed some butter right off the dish and stated nibbling it. He was like this cute mouse gnawing it's cheese. I gave him a 'look', he gives me his sweetest smile and says 'Amma benne tumba yummy Amma' (Amma, Butter is very Yummy). I know he loves butter and ghee. The other day I forgot to put away the bottle of Ghee, and this little mouse found the bottle with a spoon conveniently on the dining table. He scooped spoonful of ghee and finished quite some before it came to my notice!! Honey calls him little Krishna, the naughty little lovable god who stole butter in Vrindavan.So be it, my little Krishna.

My grandmother and my mother always had homemade butter on hand. It was probably not enough given the size of their families, they also purchased good quality butter from dairy farmers. In fact my home town was famous for its dairy products in the past century and finds a mention in most gazetteers published during the time. The love for good dairy has passed on to the younger generations in the family too. We all love our milk,yogurt, butter, buttermilk, cheese ,name it, we love it.

Ever since I found this fresh raw milk source, life has been good. The milk actually forms a thick cream on top when heated. I skim the cream and churn butter out of it. I make ghee out of the butter and some times we eat our butter with toast, Dosa, Rotti and Sunny boy will eat just the butter, nothing with it :) It is pretty easy to make and worth the extra effort by all means.

Heat milk till cream begins to form on top. Remove from heat and cool it down to room temperature.

Set it in the refrigerator for at least4-5 hours, so that the cream solidifies and it is easy to transfer.

Skim the cream and store it in a glass jar in the refrigerator. Do this everyday for a maximum of 7 days. That is everyday, heat the milk, skim the cream and collect the cream and store it in the glass jar. If using more than one liter a day, you can start making the butter early. However, do not wait for more than 7 days because then the cream will develop an off-taste and butter will taste rancid.

On the 7th day, pull the jar of cream collected out of the refrigerator. Add the tablespoon of yogurt thinned down in two tbsp water into the cream and let it ferment for about 6 -15 hours.

After the cultured creamed has been sitting for some time, transfer it into a blender with 1.5 to 2cups of water and pulse for 5 seconds at a time, totally under a minute to separate the butter and the buttermilk. Do not run the blender continuously, just pulse.The butter will separate in under a minute.Letting the blender run continuously will result in a butter smoothie which is sort of irreparable. Keep a close eye, the texture changes in an instant and the smooth cream appears curdled, sort of crumbly. That is when the butter is ready.

Once the butter has separated, collect it using either a strainer or your fingers.

The buttermilk- the liquidy part of the mixture tastes great with just a dash of hing, salt, ginger and curry leaves. It can also be used to make Mosaru shaaleor Majjige Huli. We mostly end up drinking ours. There is hardly anything left after one round of me and Honey checking out the buttermilk.

from where did you get fresh raw milk in US? I would love to do the butter myself. I was doing it in India, but after coming to US :(Home made butter tastes much much better than the costliest store bought butter. Your's look very pleasing, wish I could lick it..